Federal grant will benefit local youth

The Department of Health and Human Services' Transition Age Youth Division has received $30,926 in funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

"This is very exciting as this is a new opportunity for DHHS to better serve transition age youth," said DHHS Assistant Director of Programs Barbara LaHaie.

These funds are part of $140 million in Continuum of Care Homeless Assistance grants awarded in June to nearly 900 homeless assistance programs across the country. More than 430 programs, including the TAY Division, are receiving HUD grants for the first time.

The Transition Age Youth Division, which serves young adults ages 16 to 26, has three main units: TAY Behavioral Health, the Independent Living Skills program and the Humboldt County Transition Age Youth Collaboration. The HUD funds will be used to provide rental assistance vouchers to chronically homeless youth who also have a mental health diagnosis. Supportive services will be provided by DHHS staff as well.

"This award will support young people with housing assistance while they are working toward building a more solid foundation in their lives," said Delores Hickenbottom, a DHHS Mental Health case manager who works in the TAY Division. "This award gives hope and helps young people follow their dreams by giving an essential necessity of stability — housing."

In April, HUD awarded $1.6 billion in a first round of Continuum of Care Homeless Assistance funding to more than 7,100 existing homeless programs operating nationwide. More than $647,000 of those funds came to Humboldt County homeless assistance programs. Local recipients included the Arcata House Partnership, Humboldt Bay Housing and Development Corp., Redwood Community Action Agency and DHHS. Each of the entities is a member of the Humboldt Housing and Homeless Coalition, which also received HUD funding for its Homeless Management Information System, a database used to gather local information about homelessness.